Miami Heat: The good and the bad of Hassan Whiteside

Hassan Whiteside signed a huge contract extension this offseason to remain with the Miami Heat. We examine his play thus far. 

Early on July 1st of this past summer, the first day players and teams could agree to terms on new deals, Hassan Whiteside came to a relatively quick decision about where he would be playing.

There was strong speculation that Whiteside was leaning towards signing with the Dallas Mavericks. However, the big man chose to stick with the team who gave him a legitimate shot at an NBA comeback. That, of course, was the Miami Heat.

Heat fans were excited, and rightfully so. Players of Whiteside’s caliber don’t often come out of nowhere to lead the NBA in blocks, as he did in the 2015-’16 season. And it would have been a gut punch for Miami to discover him, just to have him flourish on someone else’s team.

Unfortunately, we had no idea Dwayne Wade would be dropping a bomb on us just five days later. And to add insult to injury, the Heat failed to garner much interest from their biggest target, Kevin Durant. We all know where he ended up.

So now, five months later, the dust has finally settled. We are a quarter of the way through the new season. And it’s the first one in which Whiteside is considered “the guy” in Miami. Though the team hasn’t had much success, he’s performing at a high level. At least that’s what it looks like at first glance.

Although it’s still early, 22 games is a good enough sample size. Let’s take a closer look, and see if the Heat’s prized big man has truly lived up to his four year, $98 million contract extension.